What should have been included in 1E's UA that wasn't in there?

[ephemeron]

The barbarian has an innate detect magic ability . . . the short hairs on his neck go prickly and and he realizes the sword is enchanted. "Witch-crafted blade, begone!"

Now I'm imagining Arnold Schwarzenegger throwing away the sword from the ancient Atlantean tomb.

 

[Mark Hope]

Ah! This sounds much like the "Knave" class I'm working on. Basically, it's a fellow who "pretends" to be other classes and, depending upon his charisma score and your dice roll, his cure light wounds spell might actually work on you!

Have you seen the Chameleon class in Races of Destiny? It works a bit like this. I think that there was a preview on the WotC site at some point...

 

[Tuzenbach]

Have you seen the Chameleon class in Races of Destiny? It works a bit like this. I think that there was a preview on the WotC site at some point...

Haven't seen it, but I've heard about it. Yes, it's slightly like the Chameleon, but slightly not. I haven't quite worked out the mechanics, but it should be interesting when I do.

 

[tx7321]

The source literature. Conan, Fafhrd, Kothar, Thongor -- seemingly all of the "barbarian" characters of swords & sorcery fiction had some sort of an innate ability to detect "witchcraft" and "unnatural" things, so as to better fight/destroy them.

You're looking at it wrong to say that the AD&D barbarian doesn't use magic because he's "afraid" of it -- he doesn't use it because he hates it, it's unnatural, and unmanly, and ultimately destroys all those who rely on it too heavily. And unlike weak city-dwellers the barbarian doesn't need magic to succeed, because he gets naturally what other characters need to use magic to get (extra hp, better AC, better saves, faster move rate, faster healing rate, ability to jump, climb, and hide, ability to detect ambushes and sneak attacks, ability to damage "enchanted" creatures, ability to see through illusions, etc.). I don't have the books in front of me to dig through for quotes, but I'm almost certain there are passages in Gardner Fox's Kothar books (which are, IMO, as probably closest in feel to "D&D" of anything in the pre-D&D canon) that say more or less exactly that.

Well, I can understand this logic. The only problem to me is that I don't think most players think of a +1 sword as very magical (they don't see what goes into making it, nor that much difference in hitting or inflicting damage), but rather just a good sword that won't break and will hit things that need magic to hit. If it did something other then light, I could see your point (like a flame tounge). Magic is just too common in the AD&D world to make a big deal of it (unlike the Conan setting). Not to mention that the source of much magic is from silvian races like elves (and not always civilized humans). Picture Conan along with the Hobbit group. Do you think he'd snub his nose at the magical swords in the troll cave. Nah, magic wouldn't be that big a shock. What bugs me about this magic deal is that I think it destracts from the key to what a barbarian is....there the animalistic powerhouse alpha male. They don't shun civilization as much think of it as a place to sack. Its the whole mix up of different fantasy genres we talked about in the other thread. Some of those things will conflict with one another, I just think making magic (to that extreme) a focal point is a huge mistake (in a game rooted in it).

The kind of magic you find in 1E is nothing like that found in the Conan novels. Its made by LG just as much as by LE. Its made by woodland beings as well as city dwellers. And likely shaman healers exist in barbarian tribes (something that didn't parellel in Conan etc.). The unnatural magic of COnan In a way parallels druids dislike of negative plane magic (evil clerical for instance). Note that druids have no problem with other sorts of magic.

 

[teitan]

The new attribute generation method - why? Isn't 4d6, drop lowest generous enough? Apparently not!

1e was 3d6 in order

 

[tx7321]

Originally Posted by Gentlegamer
"The barbarian has an innate detect magic ability . . . the short hairs on his neck go prickly and and he realizes the sword is enchanted. "Witch-crafted blade, begone!"

Oh yeah, the real reason to have a barbarian in your group, instant detect magic ability for everyone else. Grumm "dammit-all-to-hell, another magic ring, here you take it, I can't carry it, only girly men carry magic rings that make you hard to hit).

 

[T. Foster]

Originally Posted by Gentlegamer
"The barbarian has an innate detect magic ability . . . the short hairs on his neck go prickly and and he realizes the sword is enchanted. "Witch-crafted blade, begone!"

Oh yeah, the real reason to have a barbarian in your group, instant detect magic ability for everyone else. Grumm "dammit-all-to-hell, another magic ring, here you take it, I can't carry it, only girly men carry magic rings that make you hard to hit).

Don't forget that if a barbarian destroys a magic item he gets XP as if he'd kept it -- just be sure not to let him anywhere near that Staff of the Magi!

 

[dcas]

1e was 3d6 in order

There were 4-5 methods listed in the DMG, only one of which was 3d6. Another was 4d6, arrange how you like.

The PHB doesn't have any methods listed.

 

[jgbrowning]

PS: What's a mountebank?

It's where you put your Monty Haul!

joe b.

 

[dcas]

And likely shaman healers exist in barbarian tribes (something that didn't parellel in Conan etc.).

Yes, UA explicitly makes mention of such characters (NPCs of course) IIRC.